I don't know if it is true of all Type Os, but it is certainly true of me. When I am exercising daily I thrive on it. I am energized by it. I feel like something important is missing from my life if my schedule forces me to skip it.

However, when I get out of the exercise habit, something in me resists even the thought of a run or a swim. I fill up my 24 hours a day with other activities. I read; I work on the computer; I organize things. I don't feel like exercising. I say to myself, "I'll do it tomorrow."

While I had the respiratory virus I stopped exercising - partly because my energy level was a little down and partly because I hoped that some rest would help my body heal itself. Now that I am well, exercise inertia has set in. I ran one day, but the next day I had an excuse. I worked with weights one day, but the next day my family wanted to watch a movie, and they easily convinced me to go along.

There was a thread on the Forum a while back called something like "Am I the only O who hates exercise?" A lot of people wrote to say, "No, you're not." When I never exercised I had no desire to start. It wasn't until I forced myself to exercise on a regular basis that I began to enjoy it. Eventually I felt something like an addiction, a physical and emotional high after a workout. That feeling more than any fitness goal motivated me.

I realized last night that I'm getting used to not exercising. I'm increasingly content being a sluggish couch potato. This morning I resolved to break the pattern. Exercise is back. It will take several days until I am hooked again, but until then I will push myself. Today I climbed stairs at the parking garage. I did 60 flights in 30 minutes. Tomorrow I have an early meeting, but I will run as soon as I get home.

This entry was posted on January 18th, 2005 at 07:33:00 pm and is filed under Earlier Blogs.